Joy as a practice,

not a personality trait

 

This Retreat is designed to give you…

  • Instruction, practice, and skills development in four pillars of joy: Mindful Awareness, Community Connection, Awe, and Self Leadership (for more information on the concept of Self, check out this blog post.)

  • Concrete tools to support you in…

    • Accessing present moment awareness

    • Connecting with and honoring your body

    • Exploring and attuning to your internal landscape

    • Increasing your access to Self energy

    • Noticing and fostering connection with your external landscape / the natural world

    • Courageously sharing and connecting with others

    • Softening self-consciousness

    • Understanding, regulating, and nurturing your nervous system

    • Showing up authentically

    • Allowing, inviting, and prioritizing laughter and play

  • Moments of awe and surprise over the power of the insights you hold

  • Recognition of how creative, curious, and playful you already are

  • The opportunity to connect authentically with other like-minded individuals.

What to Expect

Katie and Ellen have an intimate, joy-filled weekend planned for you, packed with outdoor exploration, collaborative play, deep connection with the natural world, artful meal-making, creative writing and journalling, guided meditation, evening and morning yoga, solo reflection and wildcrafting, deep discussion, and courageous sharing.

This retreat is capped at 8 participants to foster genuine connectivity and belonging. We have designed the weekend to offer a balance of community time and solitude so that you can leave the experience with charged batteries and a nourished spirit.

The Details

When: Saturday August 9th at 2:00 pm (arrive anytime after 1:00 pm) through Sunday, August 10th at 12:00 pm

Where: North Mills River Recreation Area at Wash Creek Horse Camp (there is plenty of parking available onsite)

Who: Adult women and nonbinary individuals who resonate with being part of a group of women, ages 18 and up. Capped at 8 participants, 6 participants required for group to run. Screening call required for acceptance.

Cost: $415 per person

Weather: Barring an unanticipated extreme weather event, the retreat will run rain or shine—please prepare accordingly. :-)

Price Includes

  • Nourishing Snacks, Saturday evening dinner, and Sunday morning breakfast. Please let us know of any dietary restrictions.

  • Small-group instruction and skill-development in four pillars of joy: Mindful Awareness, Community Connection, Awe, and Self Leadership

  • Stress-release & relaxation yoga on Saturday evening

  • Therapeutic journalling instruction and practice

  • Wildness poetic medicine prompts and circle

  • Joy-awakening yoga on Sunday morning

  • Guided creek walk experiential (prepare to get wet!)

  • Walking, breathing, and visualization-based guided meditations

  • Facilitated group discussions and sharing circles

  • Filtered spring water from Mountain Valley Water

  • Abundant laughter

  • Unlimited access to your treasure trove of joy!

To Bring

  • Tent and/or hammock for sleeping / resting (tents and other outdoor gear can be rented at REI if needed).

  • Sleeping bag (and sleeping pad & pillow if desired/needed)

  • Bathing suit and layers that can get wet (athletic shorts/pants, sun shirt, wetsuit if desired)

  • Warm layers (for night and after creek walk)

  • Water shoes

  • Towel

  • Hiking shoes

  • Yoga mat

  • Camp chair and/or blanket for sitting during meals, circles, etc.

  • Water bottle (filled)

  • Sunscreen

  • Bugspray

  • Hat

  • Sunglasses

  • Journal & writing utensil

  • Mug for tea/coffee/hot chocolate

  • (Optional) Poem, short prose piece, and/or song to share at Saturday evening campfire

  • (Optional) Guitar, drum, or other instrument

How to Register:

Email Ellen at ellen@openinghandstherapy.com. Include your name, age, phone number, and a few details about your interest in the Retreat.

  1. Ellen will email you back to set up a 10-15 minute phone-call to ensure that the retreat seems like a good fit for your needs at this time and to answer any questions.

  2. Complete the intake paperwork. Be on the look-out for an email from Opening Hands Therapy, PLLC at <yourprovider@simplepractice.com>. Once you receive it, follow the link to a secure, HIPAA-compliant online portal, where you will be able to complete registration and payment.

  3. Invite curiosity and intention. In the days and weeks leading up to the retreat, spend some time with your Self and consider what you hope to bring back into you daily life at the retreat’s end. On day one, we’ll use these thoughts to build clear intentions for our time together.

Joy School: Summer Camp Edition, August 2025

Joy isn’t reserved for a lucky few. It’s accessible, it’s a practice, it’s a radical act. It’s a way of transforming not only your own life but the lives of everyone you encounter. We believe joy is essential in creating the changes we want to see in ourselves and in our world, and we’ve learned powerful, research-backed methods for its cultivation that we’re excited to share.

Join us this August 9th through 10th in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains just outside of Asheville, NC for our inaugural Joy School retreat. Savor creekside camping and a rich schedule of experiential joy-learning, community connection, and personal exploration. Carve out this space for your voice, your body, your wildness, your creativity, and, above all, your joy. Open yourself to a new way of being!

You Joy School Guides

Ellen Louise Ray (left)

Katie Richards (right)

Katie’s and Ellen’s paths first crossed years ago when they were both serving as educators and realized their shared devotion to students’ whole-person wellbeing (and joy!) over other societally-approved markers of “success.” They’ve been friends and co-collaborators ever since, and cannot wait to share their energy and expertise with you! 

Ellen Louise Ray, LCSW, LCAS, MFA, RYT-200

Ellen is a psychotherapist, addiction specialist, registered yoga teacher, and creative writer who helps her clients rediscover their capacity for inspiration, growth, and play so they can build lives where they feel strong, whole, and free. While Ellen has training in a number of healing modalities, Internal Family Systems (IFS) is at the heart of her work and informs her understanding of humans as powerfully complex creatures with an undamaged core Self capable of extraordinary compassion, creativity, curiosity, and joy. Ellen brings deep experience facilitating therapeutic creative writing circles, ecotherapy experiences, and yoga and meditation classes. She is thrilled to be sharing insights and practices based on years of study on the healing impacts of creative writing, collaborative play, mindful movement, connection with nature, meditation, breathwork, and internal exploration.

Katie Richards, MA, WFR

Katie is an outdoor educator with a passion for meaningful play. She believes that joy is a skill to be practiced and the ultimate secret weapon for a satisfying life. 

Over the past twenty years, Katie has honed her skills in coaching, personal development, mediation, and wilderness education. Her work is driven by a dedication to nurturing positive culture and healthy relationships.

When she’s not working, you can find Katie hiking with her dog Maple or renovating Margie, the big red trolley parked in her front yard.

Katie has a BS in Outdoor Education and an MA in College Student Development with a focus in Outdoor Programs Administration, both from Appalachian State University. She has been a Wilderness First Responder for over 20 years.